Abstract

1) Eric Blair (alias George Orwell) can rest easy in his grave, because birth control by governmentally imposed methods, such as incorporation of a contraceptive agent into drinking water, is totally unfeasible by 1984.

2) Fundamentally new birth control procedures in the female (for example, a once-a-month luteolytic or abortifacient agent) and a male contraceptive pill probably will not be developed until the 1980's at the earliest, and then only if major steps of the type outlined in this article are instituted in the early 1970's. Development during the next decade of practical new methods of birth control without important incentives for continued active participation by the pharmaceutical industry is highly unlikely. If none are developed, birth control in 1984 will not differ significantly from that of today.